News Detail

Alumnus Honors Two Basilian Fathers Through Classroom Dedication

06/17/2014

Two Basilian Fathers—Father Leo Hetzler, C.S.B., and Father Al Cylwicki, C.S.B.— were honored at St. John Fisher College on Monday, June 16. Thanks to a leadership gift from alumnus Jim Leo ’71, and his wife Kathleen, a lecture hall was dedicated in their honor at the Victor E. Salerno Center for American Enterprise.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which was attended by College administration and faculty as well as friends of the Basilian Fathers, a plaque outside of the classroom was unveiled and read, “This lecture hall is dedicated to Fr. Leo A. Hetzler, C.S.B. and Fr. Al Cylwicki, C.S.B. in honor of their loving inspiration to the students of St. John Fisher College. With gratitude − Jim ’71 and Kathleen Leo.”

Father Hetzler and Father Cylwicki inside of the lecture hall.

Fr. Hetzler has been associated with the College since 1959, when the Basilian Order sent him to Fisher to be the Chair of the English Department. He was the Faculty Advisor to the Drama Club and to The Angle, the College’s literary magazine. And, in 1964, Fr. Hetzler became a Resident Assistant. In 1994, he retired from teaching, but not from his scholarly pursuits. This past May, at the College’s 60th Commencement, he received a President’s Medal for Service to St. John Fisher College and the Rochester Community.

Fr. Cylwicki joined the Basilians in 1950, and came to the College in 1995 as a math professor. He has served as a member of the Board of Trustees since 1999. In addition, he has been very involved in athletics over the years, volunteering as a coach. His passion for sports has led him to be a chaplain on the Indy car circuit in the summers.

Leo graduated from Aquinas Institute in 1967 and Fisher in 1971. He went on to earn his MBA in Accounting at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He currently serves as the Senior Vice President, CFO, and Treasurer of Wegmans, where he has been for over 30 years. Prior to joining Wegmans, he worked at Stromberg-Carlson Corporation and Monroe Community Hospital.

He has been honored by the School of Business with the Outstanding Accounting Alumnus of the Year Award in 2006, the Dean’s Medal in 2010, and in 2012, he was chosen as the School’s Beta Gamma Sigma Chapter Honoree. Today, he serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council and the Accounting Advisory Board in the School of Business.